9789089644091

Summary

Using a wealth of material including interviews, official documents, and student writings, the authors recount the rise of newly independent states in postwar Malaya and Singapore through the engagements of a left-wing group of university student activists. The University Socialist Club and the Contest for Malayabrings to life various contemporary movements, including democratic, Marxist, socialist, ethnicity-based groups which seek to influence postcolonial Malaya, as well as their fluid relationships with one another, at a time when allies became enemies, and vice versa. An original and vital study, this volume delves into the complex mental worlds and historical milieu of political and student activism.

Author Biography

Kah Seng Loh is a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies of Kyoto University. Edgar Liao is a tutor at the Department of History of the National University of Singapore. Cheng Tju Lim is an educator in Singapore. Guo-Quan Seng is a PhD candidate in History at the University of Chicago.

Acknowledgments	p. 11
List of Photographs	p. 15
Abbreviations	p. 17
The Socialist Club and the Modernity Project	p. 19
A Post-war Background	p. 22
The Tangled Strands of Modernity	p. 25
Identities of the Socialist Club	p. 28
Contestations over Socialism, Student Activism and Identity	p. 31
Curtailment, Coldstore and the Cold War	p. 33
Convergences of Mobilisation and the Tensions Within	p. 34
Overview of the Book	p. 38
Awake in the Bowl of Night	p. 41
Between the Emergency and Orderly Decolonisation	p. 42
A Mixed Political Club	p. 47
Early Contemplation, Criticism and Misfires	p. 54
A New Tone	p. 57
The Fajar Trial	p. 61
"Aggression in Asia" and the "513 Incident"	p. 61
The Fajar 8, Pritt and Fund Raising	p. 64
The First Shots	p. 68
First Day	p. 72
Second Day	p. 73
Third Day - Game, Set, Match	p. 74
A Breaking Moment for Malaya	p. 77
Visionary of the Nation, Voice of Stifled Malayans	p. 81
"We speak for many stifled Malayans"	p. 82
Organise and Mobilise	p. 85
The Lim Yew Hock Purges	p. 95
The 1959 National Language Seminar	p. 98
A Beacon of Light on the Campus and Beyond	p. 105
Convergences with the Students' Union and International Student Fraternity	p. 106
The Rise and Fall of the Pan-Malayan Students' Federation	p. 112
Joint Activities, Joint Action	p. 123
Frankly Partisan in the Struggle for Student Leadership	p. 127
The Discursive Battle over "Student Apathy"	p. 128
Campus Opponents, Critics and Detractors	p. 131
Contesting Socialism, Critiquing Fajar	p. 136
Storms in the Union over Partisanship	p. 140
"Patrons, Opportunists, Clowns and Clots": The Rise of Rivals	p. 144
The Shadow over the Club	p. 153
The Nodes and Chains of the Communist Discourse	p. 154
The Abdullah Majid Node and Post-Fajar Trial Anxieties	p. 158
The Linda Chen Node and Spotlight on the PMSF	p. 159
The John Eber Node and the London Connection	p. 162
The Cold War Information Order	p. 164
Resisting Malaysia, Swansong for Malaya	p. 167
Singapore Independence: A Bold Rationalist Thesis	p. 170
The 1961 "Basis for Merger" Forum and the Parting of Ways	p. 175
Theorising National Unity, Interrogating Communalism	p. 181
Mobilising Principles, Battling the Leviathan	p. 184
Long Night after Coldstore	p. 191
The Geopolitics of Greater Malaysia and Operation Coldstore	p. 193
After the Purges: Siaran Kelab Sosialis	p. 200
The 1966 Seminar on Communalism and National Unity	p. 204
In Defence of University Autonomy and Student Rights	p. 209
The Sanctity of the University and the Student	p. 210
"A Seething Cauldron": The 1963-1966 Pro-University Autonomy Movement	p. 216
Raging against the Dying of the Light, 1967-1971	p. 226
Entwined Memories and Myths	p. 233
Misspent Youth and the Fajar Boys	p. 235
Countermemories and Staking Claims	p. 243
The Ghosts and Myths of History	p. 248
Conclusion: Modernity in Singapore and Malaya Reconsidered
The University Socialists: Biographical Sketches	p. 265
Timeline of Events	p. 281
Notes	p. 287
Bibliography	p. 325
Index	p. 337
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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The University Socialist Club and the Contest for Malaya

9089644091

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

Rewards Program